


the heart that fed

by possibilityleft



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: F/F, Poetry, Texting, Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-25
Updated: 2014-10-25
Packaged: 2018-02-22 03:32:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2492885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/possibilityleft/pseuds/possibilityleft
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tamika texts Janice from the Sand Wastes.  <em>Janice and Tamika are in rival elementary schools, and they probably wouldn't have ever met as friends if it hadn't been for the summer reading program. They might have met on the field of battle, each doing their best for the faceless government agencies they might represent in a war that respects no age, gender, or profession, but instead it was the children's reading room.  Tamika held Janice's hand as they read about The Hungry Hungry Caterpillar, a being so terrifying that it threatened to eat the world.  Janice was in love by the time the Caterpillar ate the mailman.</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	the heart that fed

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thesleepingsatellite](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesleepingsatellite/gifts).



> I never would have thought about this pairing if I hadn't read the letter, so thanks, abluegirl. A few names ago we were in Glee fandom together, so consider this a little drive-by hello!
> 
> Title and quotation are from Shelley's Ozymandias.

Janice has a text message. She feels the vibration against her thigh and it's all she can do not to reach down and pick up the phone. Mom always complains when she's on her cell during dinner, even when it's important. She says that family dinners are special because family is all you have when the going gets tough. She's been saying that for as long as Janice can remember.

Back when it was just the two of them, after the divorce, she and Mom would spread out maps on the kitchen table after they did the dishes, and they planned their escape routes from various places -- the grocery store, the doctor's office. It's no good to just run blindly, Mom always says, not if you don't know where the nearest wheelchair ramp is. Janice wouldn't be here today without her mom, so she keeps the phone under the table.

Afterwards she goes back to her room and flips the phone open. She's got her stepdad's old one, a Nokia that could survive anything from a rain of blood to being run over. It's a little scratched up, but Janice doesn't mind.

 _Round the decay_  
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare  
The lone and level sands stretch far away, her text message says. It's from Tamika. Janice smiles. She loves it when Tamika sends her poetry, especially the forbidden verses.

Janice and Tamika are in rival elementary schools, and they probably wouldn't have ever met as friends if it hadn't been for the summer reading program. They might have met on the field of battle, each doing their best for the faceless government agencies they might represent in a war that respects no age, gender, or profession, but instead it was the children's reading room. Tamika held Janice's hand as they read about The Hungry Hungry Caterpillar, a being so terrifying that it threatened to eat the world. Janice was in love by the time the Caterpillar ate the mailman.

 _Miss you too_ , she texts back. She thinks about the haggard look on her mother's face, about the uncharacteristic silence of her stepdad at dinner. She doesn't think that the war against StrexCorp is going well for anyone, but she's hoping it's going slightly worse for Strex. Her uncle is still broadcasting; that's a good sign. She can hear his deep rumbling voice emerging from the radio in the kitchen. It is, as always, a comfort.

The phone buzzes again a few moments later. There doesn't seem to be much of a time delay in the sand wastes, for which they are both thankful. Janice sends Tamika pictures of her kitten sometime to keep her spirits up, and Tamika always sends back little smiley faces.

 _What have you printed today, Lady Gutenberg?_ Tamika has sent her. Janice shuts the phone and glances around, knowing she's probably alone but still worried for a moment. She's too young for the secret police to take much interest in her, and of course they need a warrant to get phone records, but she'd be in major trouble if anyone knew her pet name is after the man who invented the printing press, the most dangerous weapon in the world.

There is no one there, not even the Faceless Old Woman who occasionally lurks in the periphery of her vision. She's pretty sure that the Faceless Old Woman thinks that she and Tamika are cute. Her phone is always totally charged in the morning, even when she knows she forgot to put it on the charger the night before.

 _Something big_ , she types back. _Signs say company picnic. Lots of barbed wire._

Tamika doesn't answer this one right away. Janice finishes her math homework and takes a bath. Her mom has tucked her in and turned off the lights when her phone buzzes again. Janice reaches for it. The backlight burns her eyes for a second but it's worth it.

 _See you soon_ , the message says, and Janice dreams of electric sheep.


End file.
